A product generally comprises at least one label, where the label comprises information about the product such as name of the product, cost of the product, weight of the product and so on. Such labels may contain the information in an alphanumeric format or in the form of a machine-readable code (wherein the code may be a bar code, QR code or any other suitable format). Therefore, when a consumer goes to purchase a product from a retail store, the consumer has to peruse these labels before being able to make an informed decision on his purchase. Consider a scenario where a consumer wants to buy a product, but has to make a selection from two or more products based on cost per weight unit (where the products may be from different sources or from the same sources, but of different sizes). The consumer has to read the labels and perform a mental exercise for estimating the cost per unit weight of the product, before making a decision.
In light of the above, some jurisdictions have mandated that the cost per unit weight has to be published on the product label. This entails that the retailer modify the existing labels for including this information, which puts an additional burden on the retailer.
Further, the consumer may not necessarily be co-located with the product that is of interest to him and may not be aware of the location of the product within the retail store. Currently, the consumer has to rely on asking staff in the retail store for directions or signs present in aisles or sections within the retail store. However, these directions are limited to directing the consumer to a specific aisle or section; the consumer has to further search within the aisle or section for the product of interest to him.
Accordingly, what is needed is an apparatus and method for enabling the consumer to easily access the cost per unit weight of products and easily locate the corresponding products within a retail store, without putting an additional burden on the retailer or any other component in the product supply chain.